MWC2013: Intel Talking Up ”Bay Trail” Atom Processors for Tablets

Intel isn’t making any big announcements at MWC this year, but it has been busily reminding attendees that tablets running the “Bay Trail” line of Atom processors will be out by the end of this year.

Even though Bay Trail was formally unveiled at CES last month, Intel has been keeping quiet about some of the specifics. In general, the company has promised that these chip will boast twice the performance of current “Clovertrail” processors, while offering a “great battery life”.

The next-generation Atom chips will be made with a 22nm process, down from the 32nm one used in the current versions. These will be quad-core processors, and while Intel has kept quiet about speeds, unconfirmed reports say they will run at up to 2.4GHz.

Windows 8 tablets are where Bay Trail processors are most likely to be found, although some Android-based ones might use them, as well.

The first computers running Intel’s Bay Trail Atom chips are scheduled to be released in time for the 2013 holiday shopping season.